Sewing Machine Goodness – lalinsocalhttps://lalinsocal.com
stitching every chance I get. . .
Thu, 21 Mar 2019 17:45:15 +0000 en
hourly
1 http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/a2e463d049aee8931f5273a324ba8f1c?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngSewing Machine Goodness – lalinsocalhttps://lalinsocal.com
swiped from Craftsy. . .https://lalinsocal.com/2015/01/25/swiped-from-craftsy/
https://lalinsocal.com/2015/01/25/swiped-from-craftsy/#commentsMon, 26 Jan 2015 00:10:05 +0000http://lalinsocal.com/?p=890How I have tortured my IG friends with photos of these placemats! I shamelessly stole the idea from Craftsy – using the same Kaffe Fassett cool range millefiori fabric, the same pattern layout. But rather than a QAYG, I actually built the quilt sandwich – I’m hoping to become more comfortable FMQ and this was an awesome way to practice and have something useful, and might I add pretty as well

I also successfully deployed and used the generic FMQ foot from Leah Day.

You see my Juki foot was dragging along my quilt sandwiches each time I tried FMQ – I couldn’t get any flow and just got more frustrated with each attempt. An awesome IGer forwarded me to this post from Leah Day over at The Free Motion Quilting Project. I wasn’t ready to break the foot that came with my Juki – so I ordered the generic foot and have been happily practicing my FMQ!

The last mat, sitting there all pretty and inviting:

So now that those have been successfully deployed – we’ll hopefully get this quilted today:

#stashbee Hive 10 2014 quilt

So I’m actually standing while I quilt this. . .am I the only one? Maybe I’ll add some squats and we can add this as a #sweatandsew

Now, I really enjoy all aspects of the quilt making process. . .that first whiff of inspiration, the fabric selection, pressing, cutting, sewing, quilting.

But to sit at the end of that journey with a quilt on your lap, hand stitching that beautiful binding. . .all cozy and snuggled. Brings a smile to my face just thinking about it

Alas, my joins weren’t always the cleanest. It was hit and miss, sometimes with more miss than I would like to report. Even to the point of unpicking one or two when the askew turned to ‘bloody ‘ell, straighten that mess, eh?’

Faced with the task of making some binding for my newest ‘almost’ finish, I had the chore of replacing the washi tape I use as a guide to line up with the needle, well to do this I have the needle in the needle-down position.

That’s when a little light bulb went off – I butted the edge of my join up against the needle, lined up the back with my newly applied washi tape. . .

and voila. . .perfect, clean join.

well duh!

<smack on forehead followed by sheepish grin>

Let’s get this binding finished then, eh? g’night!

]]>https://lalinsocal.com/2014/12/14/ah-ha/feed/6lalinsocalSecret to a successful marriage #57. . .and a WIP update. . .https://lalinsocal.com/2013/12/11/secret-to-a-successful-marriage-57-and-a-wip-update/
https://lalinsocal.com/2013/12/11/secret-to-a-successful-marriage-57-and-a-wip-update/#commentsWed, 11 Dec 2013 14:40:29 +0000http://lalinsocal.com/?p=754Secret to a successful marriage #57: learning to look apologetic when you’re summoned to the bathroom to see the clump of hair your husband pulled from the clogged bathtub drain. . .and if you can manage the following with sincerity. . .

“how terribly dreadful dear, thank you ever so much. . .“, it can only work in your favour – but ANY hint of sarcasm and you’re done for – best keep hushed and slowly exit the bathroom shuffling backwards and slightly bowed. . .

Now that that bit of business is out of the way, how about a little WIP update?

Although I must admit I was very close to sending my little butterfly with the paper attached I finished the little guy and then as a true gluten for punishment does – I made another one

I decided to use some of the new skills I’ve learnt over the past year. . .

and came up with my partner’s request for something “clean, simple and pretty”. . .I hope it meets her expectations. My swap partner is kinda good at all this quilty stuff. . .’kinda good’ being a true understatement!

I cant tell you who she is, I’ll provide the link to her blog once she gets her package. . .I’m kinda nervous and excited all rolled into one – you know I couldn’t send the package without a little hooky goodness:

I have a WIP update post coming Wednesday, I may even try the whole linky thing again – but then that is in the hands of the Nippers. . .aka my mini bosses. . .good thing they’re cute!

]]>https://lalinsocal.com/2013/11/04/paper-piecing-oy/feed/10lalinsocalthe Wantsies!https://lalinsocal.com/2013/10/25/the-wantsies/
https://lalinsocal.com/2013/10/25/the-wantsies/#commentsFri, 25 Oct 2013 18:30:31 +0000http://lalinsocal.wordpress.com/?p=695When I saw these gorgeous Liberty Tana Lawn Pincushions by Red Pepper Quilts, my skin tingled with the worst case of the wantsies. . .but at $29 plus shipping from the land of Oz, nuh-uh! Totally worth it, but way out of my budget – that sigh you hear is my husband, that sound is relief. . .

So I felt sorry for myself for about a minute and a half, then pulled out my Liberty stash and started sorting and pressing, really not a bad way to spend Sesame Street time

Sorting and pressing some Liberty scraps. . .

I sewed, then I slashed, then sewed and again slashed. I didn’t press my seams in any set order and the bulk was starting to give my machine a rough time. I took it slow, nice that I am learning my cues from my machine. . .

sewed. . .slashed. . .sewed. . .

Then I framed my Liberty with a little Bonnie and Camille, hand quilted a little perle cotton and added a heart!

]]>https://lalinsocal.com/2013/10/25/the-wantsies/feed/4lalinsocalpreparing for some sewing. . .https://lalinsocal.com/2013/07/09/preparing-for-some-sewing/
https://lalinsocal.com/2013/07/09/preparing-for-some-sewing/#commentsTue, 09 Jul 2013 18:05:13 +0000http://lalinsocal.com/?p=568I have to admit it. . .I must finally give it up. . .there is a part to this sewing/quilting that I don’t like.

pinning. . .

PINNING!

Ugh. I mean really, UGH! I’ll cheat by placing 3 pins – start, middle and end – and then fill in with the clips. Unless the fabric is super fiddly and starch isn’t helping.

minimalist pinning

it must all stem from my childhood. . .as a child I would spend summer break with my grandparents and during those months my grandmother would sew me up some new clothes – already sounds terribly tragic, eh? The hours (probably only minutes) that I would spend standing deathly still just waiting for my grandmother’s cold fingers to jab me with another pin – torture!

This morning as I was trying to mentally prepare myself for the pinning task at hand – if I try to sew during the day:

Nipper2 helping momma. . .

it draws a little too much attention from Nipper2 these days – so fabric prep is the task during the day. While procrastinating, I read this wonderful blog post from Abigail at While she Naps.

Just the kick in the butt I need. . .now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a lot more pinning to do. . .

They are in use, but I’ll spare you a shot of our forever cluttered kitchen table. . .I’m actually more than a little embarrassed to let you see the place of honor the popcorn maker has

Here’s a little action shot

Nipper size!

And one more. . .

Momma and Dada size

The binding was soooo easy. I used a few strips of Kate Spain’s Cuzco from a jelly roll, sewed ’em together, ironed in half and voila – easy peasy single fold binding!

Kate Spain jelly roll binding!

I used this wonderful youtube tutorial, and was thrilled to learn I could easily sew the back of my binding with my machine by using the stitch in the ditch method. I must admit, my stitch in the ditch needs some practice (maybe more patience) but it’ll hold up to meals and the washing machine.

I couldn’t figure out why I was struggling with the bulk of the seams on this one. . .I even managed to iron it before I clued in. . .but the next one:

I mean really. . .AHGH!

UGH! like I mean really! It was going so well. So a little seam ripping and then a little concentration and. . .

Getting the hang of it. . .

if you need me, the nippers and I are finding uses for the scraps

the scraps are much more fun. . .

]]>https://lalinsocal.com/2013/05/17/bloom-bloom-oops/feed/10lalinsocaldesign wall fail. . .https://lalinsocal.com/2013/05/16/design-wall-fail/
https://lalinsocal.com/2013/05/16/design-wall-fail/#commentsThu, 16 May 2013 18:45:53 +0000http://lalinsocal.com/?p=513it’s always great to see a successful project, but even greater is to know that that project has stood the test of time.